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RAN Grumman Tracker taking off from HMAS Melbourne (ll)

by David Marshall

Dimensions:
40 cm x 30 cm
Medium:
Oil on Canvas
Date:
2025
Setting:
Peace time operations

© David Marshall Aviation Art 2025

The RAN took delivery of 32 of the rugged Grumman S-2 Tracker machines and operated them from HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Albatross at Nowra. The Navy’s Historic Flight Tracker, the subject of the above painting was a favourite performer at HMAS Albatross Flying Days at Nowra, NSW. It is now part of the Fleet Air Arm Museum’s static display.

This dramatic painting shows a Grumman S-2 Tracker sweeping low over the sea at sunset, with an aircraft carrier behind it and warm light catching the waves and fuselage. The scene captures a moment of controlled tension and precision.

The plane marked 844 is rendered in crisp detail, flying just above the ocean surface. Behind the plane sits the HMAS Melbourne with its angled flight deck and island superstructure clearly visible. The perspective suggests the Grumman S-2 Tracker has either just launched or is making a low pass before lining up for approach.

  • About David Marshall

    David Marshall

    (1929 – 2016)

    This biography is sourced from AI material and the following website: About David | David Marshall Aviation Art

    David Marshall stands as one of the foremost visual chroniclers of Australian naval aviation. A former RAF pilot and classically trained artist, he brought to his Australian work a rare blend of technical precision, atmospheric sensitivity, and first‑hand understanding of flight.

    David Marshall was born in the United Kingdom in 1929. He started painting aircraft when he was five years old. His first contact with flying was in England during 1934 when he was taken for a flight in an Airspeed “Ferry” biplane owned by the famous English pioneer pilot, Sir Alan Cobham.

    In the 1950s, during his National Service in the Royal Air Force in Britain he graduated as a pilot and continued flying with the RAF Reserve after taking up a major scholarship with the University of Reading in England. He specialized in painting, lithography, wood-engraving and typography; he graduated with first-class honours.

    He then followed a thirty-year career in advertising in London and finally in Sydney. In Australia, David turned increasingly to the aircraft and operations of the Royal Australian Navy, producing some of the most recognisable images of the Fleet Air Arm’s carrier era.

    In 1987 he retired from advertising and co-authored a book with Bruce Harris Wild about Flying! Dreamers, Doers, and Daredevils to celebrate 100 years of powered flight. This book features over two hundred of his paintings. It is still available for purchase from the following website: Dreamers, Doers & Daredevils Celebrating 100 years of aviation | David MARSHALL, Bruce HARRIS   Whilst preparing material for this book he took up flying sailplanes and was awarded the FAI Gold Badge with one Diamond.

    His oil paintings of A‑4G Skyhawks, S‑2E/G Trackers, and Wessex helicopters aboard HMAS Melbourne capture the machinery and rhythm and discipline of carrier life, and the distinctive light of the Australian coast. Marshall’s works are grounded in meticulous research and pilot‑level accuracy. His paintings are celebrated for their accuracy, atmosphere, and narrative clarity.

    David passed away in 2016, but the range and extent of his work has placed him as a pre-eminent Australian naval aviation artist.  His work is represented in business organisations, in museums and in several private collections. Several of his naval aviation paintings form part of the permanent display in the Royal Navy and the Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm Museums, and the RAAF has awarded him Heritage Awards for his paintings. Enterprises such as Qantas and Lockheed Martin have commissioned his work and many of them have been created for magazine articles that he has written over the years.

    More paintings by David Marshall
  • About Ships and aircraft in company

    In this section a wide variety of artworks with more than one ship, submarine or aircraft are featured. When two or more naval vessels are operating together they are said to be ‘in company’.

    The diverse nature of activities, exercises and deployments undertaken by ships, submarines and aircraft of the Royal Australian Navy means that a ship may spend long periods conducting single ship operations or periodically join with large numbers of other ships for such events as a naval review or fleet entry to a port. These latter events are generally scheduled to commemorate a particular event.  During such events a prominent or royal figure will review the fleet as part of the ceremony. Throughout its history ships of the RAN have participated in major fleet entries and reviews both in Australian waters and overseas.

     

    Details of Ships in the First Fleet

    Name Class Commission Dates
    HMAS Australia Indefatigable Class 21 Jun 1913 – 12 Dec 1921
    HMAS Melbourne Town Class Light Cruiser 18 Jan 1913 – 23 Apr 1928
    HMAS Sydney Town Class Light Cruiser 26 Jun 1913 – 8 May 1928
    HMAS Encounter Challenger Class Light Cruiser 1 Jul 1912 – 1 Jan 1923
    HMAS Warrego River Class 1 Jun 1912 – 22 Jul 1919
    HMAS Parramatta River Class 10 Sep 1910 – 22 Jul 1919
    HMAS Yarra River Class 10 Sep 1910 –  30 Sep 1929

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